Steel: 4 things to look for in 2018

Chinese government decisions shaped global steel markets in 2017. Sweeping capacity cuts and a clampdown on polluting industries tightened the steel market in China and in the rest of the world, supporting higher utilisation rates and higher margins far beyond China. This year, policy disruption is unlikely to be as profound as it was in 2017 as capacity-reduction targets have mostly been met. Policy, particularly in China, remains a key driver of steel market dynamics. Production controls to cap pollution, the managed conversion of the Chinese economy from investment- to consumption-driven and global trends in protectionism are only but a handful of the most consequential policy issues for the global steel markets. However, in this insight we surface a broader set of trends that will shape steel and raw materials markets in 2018.